In 2014, 66% of African men and 61% of African woman were diagnosed late due to not being test-ed quick enough.

These figures underline the need to furthur both the numbers of frequen-cy in HIV tests, which is critical to tackling the on-going high levels of HIV transmissions.

‘Diagnosis is part of the increase’

Dr Jackie Cassell believes she knows why the num-ber of people with HIV in the UK is on the increase: “There is an increase inthe number of people liv-ing with HIV now that it is a treatable disease.

“Part of the increase is people being diagnosed, where there is more awareness and opt-out screening.”

Postdoctoral Clinical Researcher in HIV, Dr Shema Tariq agrees that increases in awareness is leading to more testing, resulting in more people becoming aware of their positive status.

She says: “Now that people know HIV is treatable, they want to get tested. We (sexual health departments) have pushed for testing to be offered in more places in easier ways. For instance,

recently home testing kits were launched.”

BBC News report-ed that HIV test-ing kits could now be bought over the counter in the UK for the first time.

The UK govern-ment amended the law, meaning “do it yourself ” home testing kits can be accessible to any-one who might be at risk.

‘One in five people do not know their status’

The government hopes that the change in law will encourage more people to get tested. It is thought that as many as one in five people with HIV do not realise they are infected.

Dr Michael Brady is a trust associate at HIV awareness charity, Ter-rance Higgins Trust. He says: “Without HIV treatment the immune

system is at risk of severe damage that can cause complicated medical con-ditions.

“When a person does not know they have HIV there is also the risk that they might unknowingly pass on the virus.”

“I contracted HIV from my mum”

Stacey Walsh, 18, was unknowingly living with HIV for the first 14 years of her life, after her mum had passed the virus down to her.

She explains: “I was born with HIV, as I contracted it from my mum (who had unsuspectingly got it from my dad) She didn’t know until I started to become ill.

When I was told about my HIV, I was 13 or 14. Then I realised why I had to take so much medica-tion when I was younger.”

If you are born with HIV it means that the virus was passed down to you from your mother. This might have occurred

HIV treatment has dramatically developedover the years

African hetrosexual woman is the second largest group with HIV in the UK

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Postdoctoral Clinical Researcher in HIV, Dr

Shema Tariq

while you were in the womb. Other reasons can include breastfeeding and the birth itself.

Transmitting HIV through birth

In the UK all pregnant women are offered an HIV test by their local hospital. If you know you have HIV you can now usually stop it from being passed on to your baby.

Women who have HIV take medicine while they are pregnant, the doctors make sure they give birth safely to protect the baby. After the baby is born, it is given some HIV medicine and is fed with formula milk instead of breast milk in order to decrease the level of risk.

When you take all these precautions there is less than one percent chance of the baby having HIV.Before these treatments-there would have been a much higher risk of the baby catching HIV from its mother.

According to the World Health Organisation, the rate can be between 15% to 45% if no interven-tions are made during the pregnancy and birth.

Dramatic improvements in

treatment

Dr Tariq explained how dramatic develop-ments in treatment have changed the lives of mil-lions: “The first report-ed case of what we now know to be HIV was in 1981.

“At the time, lots of people (mainly young gay men) were becoming seriously ill with no hope of treat-ment and died within days, weeks or months.”

She adds: “A whole gen-eration of people were lost to HIV and AIDS. Within five years the vi-rus had been identified by researchers and the first drug trials started.

By 1997 we had powerful treatment for HIV that was able to could keep it under control.”

Development in HIV treatment has enabled

infected patients to live a normal life. Dr Tariq

adds: “Now, many people only take one tablet once

a day with minimal

side ef-fects and they can

expect to live as

long as someone

without HIV.

That is re-markable progress

in 35 years.

“HIV is now a chronic manageable con-dition, which makes our work (HIV researching)

satisfying.”

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National HIV testing day will be held on June 27th 2015 at your local clinic

1980s - 1990s saw the highest rates of AIDS deaths

HIV is now a manageable disease